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Nearly half of US households with children in diapers struggle to afford enough diapers to keep their children clean and dry.
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Urban Institute researchers, with support from the National Diaper Bank Network, explore how rising costs of living and proposed cuts to federal safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid could make it even harder for young families to cover the cost of essentials.

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The researchers find that:
- Though programs like SNAP and Medicaid don’t directly cover the cost of diapers, they subsidize the cost of other basic needs like food and health care. In 2023, Medicaid paid for 42 percent of births in the US, and SNAP provided 1 in 4 children under age 5 with access to healthy food.
- When families can’t afford diapers and other basic needs, parent and child health suffer. Thirty-five percent of young children living in families that struggled to afford diapers went to the doctor because of a urinary tract infection at least once in 2023, based on the latest survey data, compared to just 13 percent of children in families who were able to afford diapers.
- Cutting Medicaid’s postpartum services will likely affect the mental and postpartum health of young mothers. More than one in three caregivers struggling to pay for diapers felt down, depressed, or hopeless more than half of the time, most of whom are mothers, which is more than double the rate among caregivers who could afford diapers. “By better understanding the specific challenges of basic material needs facing young families, federal and state policymakers can work across federal and state programs and policies to ensure that all families have the resources they need to thrive—including diapers,”
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the researchers write.


Read the
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blog post to learn more. If you have questions for the research team, please reply to this email.


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U R B A N I N S T I T U T E

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